Salt is the Sea that Couldn't Return to the Sky, Sečovlje Saltpans - Istria

 Art should comfort the disturbed 

and disturb the comfortable.

Banksy

The, seasonally, somewhat dormant, Sečovlje Saltpans viewed from above. 
Our final destination for this Istrian tour is across that bay

My final morning of biking in Istria.  Fortunate to be on such a beautiful day.  We simply have to ride around these centuries-old saltpans to get back to Piran. From there, I will be headed to Venice to take a flight to Bilbao, in the Basque Country, where my next hiking, not biking, adventure begins.  

Piran and Sečovlje Saltpans

Piran can be seen as a diminutive Venice and it makes sense, considering it was an outpost of the Venetian Republic for so long.  Like most Adriatic coastal settlements, Piran spent most of its history controlled by the chief magistrates (doges) of Venice, and has the ornate Baroque architecture to match, especially around the marbled Tartini Square.  Streets like Via Karl Marx and Via Lenin, however, belie Slovenia’s communist past.  Thankfully, Piran’s overall calm feels a world away from the mayhem of nearby Venice, the city I will be traversing tomorrow, on may way to Bilbao and the Basque Country.

Piran was a center for the gathering of sea salt since the time of the Roman Empire, when it was such a valuable commodity as a flavor enhancer or a preserver of meat.  Salt, at times, was used as currency – and where the word salary comes from.  For centuries, the Northern Adriatic saltpans had a great impact on the economy of that region. They were often the subject of political disputes and wars since salt was a valuable raw material as well as a strategic commodity, important for canning food as well as the production of gunpowder.

The first record of salt production is in 804 CE when there were several small saltpans owned by monasteries in Piran. Active since the 13^th century, the Sečovlje Saltpans now produce salt in order to preserve natural and culture heritage as well. In these northernmost Mediterranean saltpans, salt is still produced traditionally, with classical methods and wooden tools, which is the reason why this salt has retained its very special taste and exceptional characteristics.

Below are a few pictures of odds and ends before I tell you more about the Sečovlje Saltpans near Piran.  

That's one way to keep small dinghies out of the water
Often seen along the Istrian Coast

Windy day on the Adriatic Sea, drying old nets

Buoys stashed in so many locations

A branch, some red netting

Birds leaving their mark on concrete pier

Buckets of fishing nets and ropes

View of Sečovlje Saltpans from below
Off-season

Sečovlje Saltpans & Salina Landscape Park

The area of the Sečovlje Salina Landscape Park where the saltpans are located covers some 1,600 acres (6.5 square km). The saltworks represent the largest Slovenian salt evaporation ponds and are home to a number of plants and animals, as well as up to 270 species of birds.  You are not just visiting the rich tradition of salt production but also a natural reserve.

The saltpans primary role were originally economic, but has since been replaced by cultural and ecological ones. Today, the saltpans are a preserver of cultural heritage and, most of all, a nature protection area, as they provide an exceptional living environment for fascinating halophytes and animal species that have succeeded in adapting to extreme salinity.

Today, people harvest salt using a 700 year old method – they use wooden tools and look after the so-called petola, the microorganism as well as mineral-rich base of the saltpans that functions as a biofilter. That ensures that the salt doesn’t mix with silt from the sea, and allows it to remain white, clean and uncontaminated

At no stage of the salt formation is a machine present, only nature and humans using the force of their bodies. Salt is harvested every other day. From the beginning to the end of the season, the salt workers (solinari) must be present in the field every day, all day long. Work takes place from early morning to late evening hours, and sometimes salt is collected while wearing a miner’s headlamp.

The solinari are in charge of their own salt basins, for which they feel a special bond. Each solinari is assigned a series of six identically sized saltpans.  They care for them as they would care for their own garden at home.

‘Every morning I look at the sky first and listen to the wind.
It may sound strange, but it is crucial for the work in the saltpans.’

Osman, experienced Piran solinaro

Salt is made thanks to consistent evaporation and crystallization in each basin. Seawater is led from evaporation to crystallization basins according to the principle of gravitation.  The water must touch the basin several times a day, be stirred, its water levels monitored, basins cleaned, and more.

On average, the saltpan season lasts from June to the middle of September, but the solinari take care of their basins during the whole year. ‘You have to love this job, otherwise you would not endure the sun,’ says Osman with a smile.  For the workers, the sun is both the hand that feeds and the hand that punishes, as their reliance on sunlight and solar warmth means they can often work in temperatures exceeding 104°F (40°C).  To help combat the heat, they dress in white.

For every pound of salt, the solinari manually move it three times – first, the salt must be gathered at the edge of the basin, then it must be loaded onto gurneys  with a shovel, and finally, it must be spread onto the draining area to dry. Through the solinari’s shoulders, elbows, and back, between 120 to 300 tons of salt are extracted each season. Piran salt is more expensive due to its quality, rarity, manual production, and traditional extraction methods, but worth every cent because of its superiority and unique taste.

The factory expects, as a whole, to process 1,500 tons over the course of a season. This is an unbelievably labor intensive process. When a solinaro is in the groove, and weather permitting, he can harvest up to 4,000-5,000 kg a day.

Close up of abandoned historic salt-worker's home

Since the saltpans were not operational when I visited, below are pictures of when they are collecting salts copied from www.artsandculture.google.com.

View from the Adriatic Sea
Combination saltpans, moorings, harbor

Wearing wooden platform sandals since salt is so corrosive to any other type of shoes

Using a wood 'gaver' (toothless rake) to make salt piles
 as it becomes more and more concentrated through evaporation

Piles of salt lined along special rails
Ready to be picked up

Everything here still done manually
Tracks - the only nod to modernity - started in 19^th century

Shoveling salt in special wooden gurney on wheels

Seen from above for perspective 

Salt gets on absolutely everything

Piran Salt’s Distinction: A PDO Stamp

Awarded the esteemed Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) label in 2005, Piran Salt carries a heritage spanning over seven centuries.  The entire journey of Piran Salt is a tribute to nature’s orchestration – the sun, the winds, the relentless sea, and the dedication of salt artisans. The result is a culinary masterpiece.

Light and capable of delivering unforgettable flavors, this salt earned certification, meeting rigorous standards and joining the ranks of renowned European Protected Foods alongside Champagne, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Parmesan, and Istrian olive oil. 

As a gourmet’s delight, Piran Salt remains unrefined and unground. Its crystals encapsulate a rich mineral blend and the essence of the mother water. These crystals impart a flavor that goes beyond mere saltiness, offering opulence and full-bodied richness. It’s a treasure for connoisseurs who appreciate tradition and pure gastronomy.

While sea salt is obtained directly from seawater, Piran salt is obtained from brine, where natural processes of mineral concentration are more intense. This gives Piran salt a unique mineral composition and a milder taste compared to regular sea salt. 

The revered fleur de sel is known for being one of the saltiest. It is not a cooking salt and should be lightly sprinkled on dishes before consumption.  In this rawest form, it is la crème de la crème of condiments, with nothing in it but itself, no anticoagulants, not the product of extensive handling and exposure, as salt sometimes is when mined. This is just sea water minus the water, and they look like beautiful, oversized snowflakes.

Marine saltpans can be found along the coasts of the entire Mediterranean basin, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea. There are some 155 saltpans of various categories in eighteen Mediterranean countries nowadays, with ninety of them still producing salt and sixty-four inactive or abandoned. Only two other saltpans in the Mediterranean have the status of protected areas: those in Cyprus and Italy.

Products made by Piran Salt: fleur de sel, various salt mixes (with herbs or dried vegetables) and chocolate with salt flowers.  Thalassotherapy can also be enjoyed with the salty water or mud from the saltpans. 

Salt before it gets cleaned up, sorted, packaged
Used for cooking or for spa treatments

I will be visiting another type of saltpan while on my next adventure in the Basque Country.  Stay tuned as it is a different process.